NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Overview Bluestone National Scenic River West Virginia
Contact Information For more information about the Bluestone National Scenic River Foundation Document, contact: [email protected] or 304-465-0508 or write to: Bluestone National Scenic River, P. O. Box 246 Glen Jean, WV 25846-0246 Purpose Significance
Significance statements express why Bluestone National Scenic River resources and values are important enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit.
1. As one of the few undammed rivers within the eastern United States, the Bluestone National Scenic River exhibits a natural hydrology that supports a diversity of aquatic and riparian habitats and biological communities due to its variable and seasonal flow regime.
2. The Bluestone gorge is characterized by an expansive continuum of unfragmented river-to-rim forest. The forest surrounding the Bluestone National Scenic River contributes The purpose of the Bluestone National to the larger, globally significant forest system that also Scenic River is to preserve the free- encompasses the New River Gorge National River and Gauley flowing waters of the Bluestone River, River National Recreation Area. This type of unfragmented the primitive character and outstanding forest system is uncommon throughout much of the eastern scenic qualities of the gorge, and a United States, and supports rare and federally threatened species, as well as 22 riparian and upland plant communities, diverse assemblage of natural resources 8 of which are globally rare. endemic to the Central Appalachian Mountains, while providing for the 3. The Bluestone National Scenic River contains a state wildlife benefit and enjoyment of present and management area that features an abundant variety of fish, future generations. wildlife, and game species, providing important public opportunities for traditional recreation uses such as hunting, fishing, and trapping in a rich scenic landscape that is largely primitive and undeveloped.
4. The geography of the Bluestone River Gorge, with its flat bottomlands, provided an easily navigable landscape that was one of the oldest corridors that American Indians and early settlers used to travel through the Appalachian Mountains, affording linkages to the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers. Fundamental Resources and Values Interpretive Themes
Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting other attributes determined to merit primary consideration a park—they define the most important ideas or concepts during planning and management processes because they are communicated to visitors about a park unit. Themes essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining are derived from—and should reflect—park purpose, its significance. significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is complete when it provides the structure necessary • Biological Diversity for park staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore • The Bluestone River and relate to all of the park significances and fundamental resources and values. • Historic Travel Corridor and Associated Cultural Resources • Diverse and unfragmented forests, extremes in topography and elevation, and the wild, free-flowing waters of the • Recreation Opportunities Bluestone River provide for a great diversity of plant and • Undeveloped Primitive Character animal species.
• The Bluestone corridor has provided a pathway that connects people and cultures through place and time.
• The Bluestone River Gorge provides a refuge for plants and animals displaced from warmer and lower elevation ecosystems, and will become more vital as global climates change.
• The isolated, primitive character of the Bluestone River Gorge allows people to experience scenic landscapes that have been relatively untouched through time, providing opportunities for solitude and reflection while affording a glimpse into the geologic and historic past. North 0 5 ilometers National Par Rapids npaved road 0 5 iles Service area
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